This invention relates to rail cars adapted for transporting automobiles. More specifically, this invention relates to the end enclosures of rail cars adapted for transporting automobiles. For the security and protection of the automobiles, the rail cars are provided with sidewalls, roof, and end doors. Typically, the rail cars are designed to have a bed and either one or two intermediate decks supported above the bed for holding the automobiles loaded thereon. The automobiles are driven from platforms at the end of the rail car onto either the bed or a deck for loading.
The height of rail cars for carrying automobiles is often critical. Where it is desirable to carry three levels of passenger cars or two levels of vans or trucks, it is essential to raise the roof of the rail car as far as possible. Due to the fact that rail cars through underpasses and tunnels, the height of the roof is limited. The roof can, however, be higher if the edges between the sidewalls and the roof are sloped. The roof is then similar to a gambrel roof on a house except there is no ridge but a flat span between the curbed sides. Indeed, they almost always are sloped. This enables the rail cars to pass through tunnels with arched ceilings even though the highest point on the rail car exceeds the height of the base of the arch.
A number of end enclosure designs are known for rail cars of the type being discussed. Usually, doors slide from the closed position to a position along the inside of the sidewalls. The doors are hung from a track member that is positioned along the edge of one of the decks. A space is provided between the side of the deck and the sidewalls at the end of the rail car so that a portion of the track is spaced and substantially parallel to the sidewalls. Thus, the doors can be moved along the track to a position along the inside of the sidewalls to enable access to the interior of the rail car. A suitable guide track or rail is usually provided adjacent the bottom edges of the doors. The guide track does not hinder the operation of the door and provides security by restricting the outward movement of the lower end of the door. Thus, access may not be gained to the interior of the rail car by pulling out of the bottom edges of the doors away from the opening. A door of the type being described is disclosed in more detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,410. It should be understood, however, that this invention in no way is limited to the specific manner in which the doors are hung and move or fold to enter the space along the sidewall. Other door hanging schemes are used and this invention has equal application thereto. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,860 for another end enclosure type to which this invention has applicability.
Since the edges where the roof and sidewalls are joined are sloped, it is not possible to extend the doors upwardly to completely fill the space (the gable space) and still slide the doors back along the sidewalls. The higher portions of the door would interfere with the sloped portions of the roof. Numerous schemes have been devised to attempt to fill the gable space. Some doors are built with the top portions bent inwardly so that they will not interfere with the sloped portion of the roof (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,410). In some cases, complicated folding panels close the gable portion of the space (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,183). In yet other cases, the gable space is simply left open (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,860). The prior art alternatives are not satisfactory since they enable the rail cars to be entered and the automobiles to be vandalized.
It is an advantage according to this invention to provide a rail car with shaped roof and doors that fill the entire upper end of the open end of the rail car but which doors can be easily moved to a stowed position along the sidewall.